Waivers, Chiefs & dinner rolls

[jmc@ptc.com (Jonathan McIntyre)]

Jim asked:
> Does anyone know what happens, salary cap wise, when a team releases a player
> (or five)?  I thought I remembered hearing, during the Dino fiasco, that if a
> team claims a player off waivers the team who waived them is no longer
> responsible for their salary.  If they clear waivers, however, they would be
> stuck.  If this is true it would be risky waiving one of the higher salaried
> players, but could rid us of their salary (eg. Dana, Minor, Dee).

Yes, that's exactly it.  If they're picked up on waivers, the team picking 
them up pays their salary.  If they're picked up after clearing waivers, 
the team that waived them still pays their original salary and doesn't free 
any cap space.  That's why the Celtics will never release Barros, Brown, 
Minor or Ellison, as teams wouldn't want to pay their huge salaries, so 
they'd wait for them to clear waivers then pick them up for a minimal salary, 
and the Celtics would be stuck paying them anyways.  Might as well keep 
them and either fit them in, or try to at least pump up their trade value so 
another team might take them in a multiplayer deal.


JLyell asked:
> enough players for a J.V team !  Anyone know Thomas' actual size ? Isn't he
> something like 6'10 250 ?

NBA.com lists him at 6'10", 265 lbs.


Bentz said:
> Look at when the Celtics lost the most games.  When the Chief was out. 
> Not when Larry was hurt.  Not when Kevin was hurt.  The Celtics depended

Exactly what I was thinking, too!  During their mid-80's dominance, when 
the Chief was injured, the Celtics would lose more than when anyone else 
was out, Larry included. 


> get the job done and can became or will become successful as a roll player
...
> Chief was not a roll player he was a superstar.  He will certainly be in

Arrggh!  Sorry, folks, for letting this bother me so much, but...
A "roll player" is someone who tries to make music with dinner rolls.
A "role player" is what teams try to get when they can't spend much money.


Jon Mc